Tesla’s “Master of Coin” will soar away in a golden parachute after abruptly pulling the cord.
Zachary Kirkhorn, who stepped down as CFO of the electric-car company in surprise shakeup last week, amassed a fortune of $590 million during his four-year stint as Elon Musk’s top lieutenant, according to Bloomberg.
Kirkhorn, 39, pulled in $300,000 in salary last year but his eye-popping pay package was comprised mainly of Tesla shares and options he received as compensation, the outlet reported.
Musk had dubbed the Harvard and University of Pennsylvania-educated engineer Master of Coin — a reference to a “Game of Thrones” character — after Kirkhorn helped Tesla turn its first ever profit in 2021.
Kirkhorn didn’t say why he was leaving his profitable post.
The Post has sought comment from Tesla.
Before Kirkhorn’s surprise decision to bolt after 13 years at Tesla, board members had discussed him a possible successor to Musk as CEO, The Wall Street Journal reported in May.
During the soft-spoken executive’s tenure, Tesla posted its first quarterly profit after it launched the mass-market Model 3 compact sedan and hit a market valuation of more than $1 trillion.
Prior to joining Tesla, Kirkhorn worked as an analyst at McKinsey & Co. and interned at Microsoft Corp.
Kirkhorn’s nine-figure fortune pales in comparison to his boss, Tesla “Technoking” Elon Musk, who is the richest person in the world with a net worth of $229 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
So far this year, 52-year-old Musk has increased his wealth by $92.4 billion, making ground ahead of French luxury apparel magnate Bernard Arnault, whose $189 billion net worth is the world’s second highest.
Much of Musk’s fortune can be attributed to the sharp rally in Tesla shares, which have soared roughly 130% this year as demand has improved for his high-tech cars.
Kirkhorn will be succeeded by Tesla’s Chief Accounting Officer Vaibhav Taneja, who is taking on the CFO role in addition to his current duties until Kirkhorn’s time is officially up at the end of the year, Tesla said.
The 45-year-old India-born executive has held several positions at the automaker before rising to the C-suite position in 2019.
Before working with Tesla, Taneja held several roles at SolarCity Corp., a US-based solar panel developer acquired by Tesla for $2.6 billion in 2016.
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